A Very Muggle Christmas
by Dorthey Star
Summary: [one shot] Hermione invites Draco home for the holidays. How will he behave towards the Muggles? How will Hermione react to this behavior? Written for the Contra Veritas Christmas Challenge 2


"A Very Muggle Christmas"

By Dorthey Star

For Mariel, because she had faith in me and for Lindsay, because she rocks 

* * * *

The car was silent as it left Kings Cross Station and headed to the Granger household. Hermione glanced at the person sitting next to her. She wondered if she'd been right in inviting her current boyfriend to stay at her house over the holidays. After all, Draco Malfoy was not known for his kind treatment to Muggles. _That's not fair,_ Hermione scolded herself. _He's not his father. _Aurors had killed Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy at the beginning of Draco's Sixth Year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Since then, Draco had tried being more polite to Muggleborns. _Still_, Hermione thought, _these are real Muggles, not Muggleborns._ She tried to shrug away all thoughts of Draco offending her parents and to look forward to the Christmas Holidays.

            Christmas was always Hermione 's favorite holiday. Ever since she was a little girl, her entire extended family would gather at her house on Christmas Eve to exchange presents and to eat dinner. They would all leave that night, and the next morning Santa would come visit her. It had been many years since she had stopped believing in him, but her parents, trying to hold onto her childhood, still gave her presents labeled to be from Santa. Hermione bit her lip. When she had invited Draco to spend the holidays at her house, she hadn't thought about her extended family coming to visit. There would be nearly twenty extra Muggles there, and she didn't know how Draco would react to it. 

            "So, um, Draco, tell us about your family. Are they magic also?" Mrs. Granger asked, turning around in her seat to face the two seventeen-year-olds. 

            "Yes, they are," Draco said, shortly. He didn't like talking about his parents, not even to people who had no clue who they were or what they had done. Mrs. Granger opened her mouth to ask something else, but caught the look that Hermione was giving her that clearly said _don't ask_. 

            "How has school been going, Hermione?" Mrs. Granger asked after sitting in silence for a few more minutes. 

            "It's been going really well," Hermione said. She easily found enough to talk about to keep her mother occupied the rest of the trip home so that she wouldn't question Draco about his family. 

            "Ah, we're home," Mrs. Granger sighed happily as Mr. Granger pulled into the drive way. The house was two stories with crème siding and maroon shudders. 

            "Nice," Draco said as they walked into the house. "It's not as big as the manor, of course, but it's much more friendly looking." 

            "Hermione, why don't you show Draco to the guest bedroom and then we'll have some dinner," Mr. Granger said.

            "All right, daddy," Hermione said to her father, and then turned to face Draco. "Your room is just down the hall from mine. I'll show you." They walked up the stairs and then to the right. She stopped in front of the first door on the left. The door was white with a sight that said "HERMIONE " and was garnished with flowers.

            "Cute," Draco smirked. Hermione blushed.

            "Mum and Dad got it for me when I was little, and since I'm not home much, I've left it up," she explained. She continued down the hall and stopped in front of the last door on the right. "This is the guest room; you'll be staying here." Draco opened the door and looked inside. The carpet was blue, and the walls were white. The sheets and cover on the bed were blue and white stripped. The room contained a desk and a wardrobe, but not much else. "It's not much," she said, twisting her fingers together nervously, "but we don't usually have guests that stay longer than over night." She suddenly became conscious of the small size of the house and the lack of fine antiques like she'd always imagined Malfoy Manor having. Draco turned to look at her. 

            "God, Hermione. Stop comparing your house to mine," Draco rolled his eyes and put his hand on her hands to keep them from moving. "It's like comparing apples and oranges. You won't get anything out of it except a huge headache." Hermione smiled. He always knew how to make her feel better. Of course, he always knew how to make her feel worse, but he had stopped using that against her when his parents died. He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss. 

            "You can unpack your stuff later. We had better go downstairs or they'll get suspicious," Hermione said. He set his stuff down at the end of the bed and followed her downstairs. 

            Dinner seemed to last at least four hours, in Draco's opinion. Mrs. Granger seemed to have heeded Hermione's unspoken warning, because the only questions they asked him were about school and what subjects he liked and did well in. Draco barely contained a sigh of relief as dinner ended and Mrs. Granger went to wash dishes in the kitchen and Mr. Granger went to watch a movie. 

            "See? They're not _that_ bad, are they?" Hermione asked softly. Draco smirked.

            "It's better than spending the entire holiday with Potter and Weasley," he said. She rolled her eyes, but chose not to comment. 

            The next day the Granger household was sent into frenzy. Mrs. Granger employed Draco and Hermione the task of washing the extra china. While they did this, Hermione told Draco all he needed to know about her family. 

            "Mum's only brother is Greg. His wife is called Laura, and their children are Tina, Sam, and Patty. Tina is our age, Sam is fifteen, and Patty is twelve. Dad has two sisters and a brother. His older sister is Beatrice- we call her Aunt Bea- and her husband is Paul. Their children are Mary, Thomas, Gary, and Olivia. Mary is eleven, Thomas is ten, and Gary and Olivia, who are twins, are three. Kelly, my dad's younger sister, is a widow, so don't mention her husband. She still gets weepy over it. She has one daughter, Genevieve. She's nine and we call her Ginny," Hermione stopped to let all this new information settle in Draco's mind. 

            "Ginny, as in Weasleyette?" Draco asked as he dried the dishes. Hermione nodded and continued.

            "Derek is my dad's brother. His wife is Selma and their only son is William. He's twenty, and might not be here. Mum's dad- whom I call Grandpapa- will be here. He's a little hard of hearing, and mostly keeps to himself, so you probably won't be talking to him much. Dad's parents probably won't be here. They don't like mum much. They haven't been the last few years. So that's all you need to know, really, and they won't expect for you to know their names."

            "And they're all Muggle?" Draco asked miserably. 

            "Yes. Every last one of them is Muggle," Hermione said firmly. Draco blew air through his teeth. 

            "Remind me again why I agreed to spend a week with a house full of crazy Muggles?" he asked moodily as they finished washing the dishes. Hermione glared at him.

            "_Don't_ call them crazy. Anyway, it was either come with me or stay at Hogwarts with just Harry and Ron." He considered for a minute, then said, so quietly that she almost didn't hear, "Potter and Weasley are seeming more appealing by the moment. Hermione glared at him once more and stalked off to her room.                                     

            Dinner was served first. This was, as Hermione explained quietly to Draco, because if they opened presents first the children wouldn't put down their toys long enough to eat their dinner. The adults sat at the long table in the formal dining room while the children, whom Draco found to be _very_ noisy and therefore _very_ annoying, sat together at a table in the kitchen. 

            "So, Hermione," Tina said, "who is this _charming_ man?" She looked at Draco in a very flirtatious. Draco shuddered at the thought of a Muggle flirting with him. 

            "Draco Malfoy. He's my boyfriend," she said, sending her cousin a warning look. Tina pouted, but backed off, much to Draco's relief. 

            "That's an unusual name," said Sam, who was very studious, "Where does it come from?" 

            "The Malfoy family is a very prestigious Pure- I mean, a very long line. Malfoy means 'bad faith' and Draco means 'dragon'," Draco said, catching Hermione's jab in the ribs as a warning when he started to mention "Pureblood." No doubt it would have intrigued Sam to the point that he would question Draco on what the opposite of a Pureblood was. 

            "That sounds very cozy," Tina muttered. Hearing that Draco was taken had put her in a _very_ bad mood. Draco shot a glare at her. Ginny giggled and Draco turned sharply to face her.

            "What's so funny?" he demanded. Being around so many Muggles was making him edgy. When Hermione had asked him to stay for the holidays she never mentioned the extended family. Ginny's smile faded. 

            "N-nothing. I just thought your name was a bit funny, that's all," she said quietly. 

            "Funny? How would you feel if I went around laughing at your name?" he asked tersely. Tears welled in her eyes. Hermione hit Draco in the arm and gave him a glare. He glared back at her. Hermione sniffed lightly and turned away from him to talk to Tina about Tina's latest crush. Draco looked moodily down at his plate as he ate. He felt slightly bad for being so rude to her family, but he couldn't make himself feel completely bad. None of the children talked to Draco for the rest of the meal after he was so rude to Ginny, but they sent a glare to him every time he dared to look up. When they got up from dinner, Hermione pulled him aside and whispered, "I can't believe you're being so rude!" before turning away and following her family out of the room. He had no choice but to follow her quietly.  

            After dinner they all gathered around the Christmas tree in the living room to open gifts. One person would don the Santa hat and give the gifts out to everyone. This year Thomas had been assigned the task and was making sure he took as long as possible so that he could keep everyone waiting. Olivia burst into tears when he kept deliberately skipping over her presents. His mother scolded him and after that he was much quicker in giving the gifts out. Draco sat next to Hermione on the couch with his arms crossed and a moody look on his face. A few of the women were giving him suspicious looks and would whisper to each other about Hermione's odd boyfriend. He wasn't expecting to get anything, so when a glaring Thomas handed him a present he couldn't contain his look of surprise. Thomas shoved the gift at him and hurried away, as if he didn't want to be around him for long. The gift was labeled _To: Draco From: The Granger family_. He held the gift, looking at the nonmoving reindeer on the paper until Hermione also got a gift. When he opened it he found a gold and silver stripped shirt. To Draco it was the most hideous thing he'd ever seen, except for the ridiculous sweaters that the Weasley's got every year. Mrs. Granger beamed his way, as if expect him to jump up and thank her. He frowned when studying the shirt. It really was very hideous. 

            "Will you at least say thank you? They didn't have to get you anything," Hermione whispered irritably into his hear. He looked up at where Mrs. Granger was looking at him with a hurt look at his face. He nodded in acknowledgement. Hermione rolled her eyes, but didn't speak again. 

            After the presents, all of the aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents left, much to Draco's relief. Once the door shut behind the final guest, Hermione rounded on Draco, not bothering to whisper. 

            "I cannot _believe_ that you were so incredibly rude to my family! I thought you had changed, Draco Atticus Malfoy, but apparently I was wrong! You're still the Muggle hating little bastard that you used to be!" she yelled. Tears were welling in here eyes, but she refused to let see her cry. Draco glared at her. 

            "Do you think this is easy for me? DO YOU? God, you don't even want to _try_ and understand this from my situation!" Draco yelled in return. 

            "You are being such an ass," Hermione said and slapped him. She turned and stomped up the stairs. Draco waited until he could hear the slamming of her door before he went to his own room. 

            Draco was furious. She wouldn't even _try_ to understand his situation. He'd been brought up to despise Muggles and to do vicious things to them. She should appreciate the fact that he hadn't flat out cursed the lot of them. He sighed. He knew she wouldn't apologize to him because he _had_ been rude to them, even if the Grangers had picked out a very ugly shirt for him. He pushed back his chair and got up from the desk. Hermione was the best he'd ever had; he wasn't dumb enough to not realize that. He wasn't going to lose her over a bunch of Muggles, even if they were her family. 

            She was lying on her bed, crying, when there was a knock on the door. Assuming it was one of her parents, she called out, "You can come in." She had not expected Draco to be the one at the door. She glared at him. "What do you want?"

            "Look, I've been brought up to hate Muggles so-" he started to say, but she cut him off. 

            "That is absolutely no excuse! It is not that hard to be polite. You didn't have to be so mean to Ginny.  She's only nine! She didn't know any better!" Hermione yelled.   

            "Forget it. Obviously you don't want my apology," Draco grumbled. 

            "You're right! I don't! And frankly, I don't even want to _see_ you right now!" she said as she slammed her bedroom door. Draco glared at her door before going back to his room. 

            Hermione sat down at her desk, and started to write a seething letter to Harry and Ron before stopping. _What good will ranting to them do? They'll just say 'I told you so' and 'He's a git, Hermione, you shouldn't date him,'_ she thought to herself. She knew deep down that she should forgive him, and that he was right that it was hard for him to be civil to Muggles because of the way he'd been brought up, but she shouldn't make herself forgive him yet. _Maybe in the morning,_ Hermione thought, yawning. She turned off her lights and climbed into bed. Despite her angry feelings, she was asleep within minutes.

            Draco was not so lucky in easy sleep. After attempting to sleep for an hour, he got up and sat at his desk to write in his journal.

            _ I don't suppose Muggles are as crazy as father told me, but they're still pretty odd. I really don't know how Hermione lives here during the summer without being able to use magic. I know I was really rude to them, but I couldn't help it. Lucius drilled it into my head that Muggles were bad every day of my life until I was sixteen. I just wish she would understand. I don't want to loose her to this fight. _ Draco looked down at the paper where he'd almost written 'because I love her.' _Do I love her?_ He asked himself. Unable to find a suitable answer, he set the quill down. After three hours of thinking, sleep finally claimed him.

            The next morning dawned clear and bright. The sun glinted off the newly fallen snow, making it appear to be brighter than it was. Hermione sat up and stretched in bed, a huge smile on her face, until she remembered her fight from last night. She bit her lip. Was she ready to forgive him? She didn't know yet. After a long hot shower, she decided to go find him. She was sure she would know whether or not to forgive him when she saw him. 

            Hermione found Draco sitting in the still decorated dining room working on an essay for Professor Snape. She grinned. He was wearing the shirt her parents had given him, and the silver, which was sparkly, clashed with his hair. She was definitely ready to forgive him. He looked up at her as she sat down next to him, and when he saw who it was, looked back down at his book with a hurt expression on his face. 

            "I've thought a lot about what happened last night," she said slowly, "and I do see where you're coming from, and I just wanted to tell you that I accept the apology you started to give me last night." He looked up with a small smile. 

            "Good." That was all he offered, but it was enough for her. They sat in silence for a few minutes as he worked on his essay before he suddenly stopped. "We didn't exchange gifts, you know," he said. 

            "Stay there while I get yours," Hermione said, jumping up from the table and hurrying to her room. She came back down a few minutes later holding a gift wrapped in green paper. He handed her a small box wrapped in blue paper with snowflakes falling down it. Neither spoke as they opened their gifts. Draco smirked at what Hermione had gotten him. It was a book called Curses And How To Use Them To Your Benefit. She looked over at him and smiled. "I know you'll curse Harry and Ron, but at least now something_ useful_ will come out of it." She finished unwrapping hers and found a necklace with a silver dragon pendent on it. She smiled at him. "It's beautiful," she whispered and hugged him.

            "Look up," he whispered to her. She looked up and saw the mistletoe hanging from the ceiling. "You know what that means," he smirked. He leaned forward and closed the gap between them and they met in a kiss. Hermione knew that it would be a long time before he could be nice to her family, but he was making an attempt, and for that she was eternally grateful.   

-Fin-

**Disclaimer**: all characters, places, and objects belong to J.K. Rowling. I'm merely borrowing them for my own enjoyment, and am not making any profit what-so-ever off of them…which is kind of a pity seeing as how Christmas is almost here, and making a profit would give me to money to buy Christmas presents for friends and loved ones…

**Author's Note:** This story was written for the Contra Veritas Christmas Challenge #2. Here were the guidelines:

_Challenge Two_: Draco and Hermione spend the Holidays with Hermione's family.  
Rule: Everyone in the Granger's home and surrounding areas except for Hermione and Draco must be Muggles.  
Optional elements: Draco has dinner with Hermione's father and mother, any extended family you want to create, any friends they've invited.  
Draco and Hermione kiss under the Mistletoe (in public or private, your choice)  
Draco and Hermione exchange gifts.

Enjoy and review!


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